The commission, which was proposed in July to address the long-running controversy over the use of commissioned agents, will make recommendations on recruitment best practices in 2013 and could decide the fate of US-oriented education agents.

NACAC says the diverse representation of institutions, perspectives and interests in the commission acknowledges “the complexity and breadth” of the issue.

“The members of this commission possess impressive knowledge and experience in the area of international student recruitment,” said commission chairman Philip Ballinger, who is the director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Washington.

“Our goal is to be as open and inclusive as possible to ensure that the commission has all of the information it needs to bring this discussion to a fruitful conclusion.”

Over the next 17 months the commission will explore institutional policies and practices for the recruitment of international students, as well as obstacles, such as federal policy, that institutions face when recruiting.

The commission will then make recommendations that concern the rules of conduct for NACAC’s 11,000 members, who are drawn from education institutions across the USA. While NACAC has promised to listened to all sides of the agent debate, it could still go ahead with its original proposal to ban per-head recruiting – in effect stifling the US-oriented agent industry, or forcing members to decide to sever ties with the association.

The commission will make recommendations that concern rules of conduct for NACAC’s 11,000 members

Among the 26 members of the commission are Maureen Budetti, director of student aid policy at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), Norm Peterson, MD of the American International Recruitment Council (AIRC), and Peggy Blumenthal, executive vice president of Institute of International Education (IIE). A full list of the commission members is available on the NACAC website.

The commission will hold its first meeting on March 5-6, 2012 in Washington DC, and meet again at the NACAC National Conference in Denver in October.

For the full background on NACAC’s position, read our interview with President, Jim Miller, here.