The background and status of current discussions about the possibility of creating a fourth NCAA division will be the topic of an Association-wide forum at the 2008 Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

The forum will feature remarks by Daniel Curran, president of the University of Dayton and chair of the NCAA Executive Committee Membership Issues Working Group, and other working-group members. There also will be a brief period for questions during the forum, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. January 12 in the Gaylord Opryland Resort’s Delta Ballroom.

Restructuring models proposed by a Division III working group studying membership issues will be the focus of a Division III issues forum scheduled for 9 a.m. January 13 in the Opryland’s Presidential Ballroom. Division III delegates also will have an opportunity to break into smaller groups at Division III’s January 14 business session to exchange views about structural issues.

All of that is expected to set the stage for a membership survey to be conducted in February 2008. The survey will seek to collect institutional perceptions about and positions on various approaches — including creation of a new division or subdivision — to dealing with membership growth and diversity.

“The survey is an important point of entry for providing feedback,” said Bernard Franklin, NCAA senior vice president for governance, membership services, education services and research. “It’s going to be important for institutions to have dialogue on their campus. The president and associated parties need to meet and talk about the future direction — whether it’s a new division or a subdivision of Division III.”

The Division III and Executive Committee working groups will review discussions from the Convention forums and survey results in making decisions about what restructuring recommendations to forward to the 2009 Convention.