The inaugural, invitation-only 2024 Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Language Education Summit was a forum for exchanging innovative solutions to shared challenges in a time of rapid change, and for forming cross-institutional working groups focused on topics of common interest and concern. 

The Summit addressed two core questions:

1. How can language centers and institutes at Big Ten universities, in partnership with state-level K-12 world language leadership, advance language education and research?

2. What are new forms of collaboration to strengthen language education that Big Ten universities and K-12 educators might engage in?

Following the Summit, working groups were formed to take action on initiatives prioritized by participants.

The Summit was invitation-only, with two representatives from each BTAA institution, and leaders in K-12 language education in states in which BTAA institutions are located. University participants were either leaders of language centers or institutes, or other leaders in language education and research on campus.

The Summit was spearheaded by leadership from language centers and institutes at Michigan State University, the University of Iowa, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, with funding from the Big Ten Academic Alliance Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Deans. The BTAA LAS Deans funding covered the cost of the meeting rooms at the Big Ten Conference Center, located close to the Chicago O'Hare airport; lodging for participants for two nights at the Aloft Hotel (October 23 and 24), adjacent to the Conference Center; and meals during the Summit. All other costs, including travel to and from the meeting site, were covered by participating institutions and organizations.

Summit participants made their own travel arrangements. All other arrangements, including lodging, were coordinated by the Summit Planning Committee and paid for directly through the BTAA LAS Deans grant for this initiative.

Funding for the inaugural 2024 BTAA Language Education Summit was provided from the
BTAA Liberal Arts and Sciences Deans Grants Initiative.