Executive Committee

1. Introduction
2. Executive Committee Members
3. Procedures to Submit Proposals to the Executive Committtee
4. Executive Committee Calendar of Meetings
5. Courses of Instruction and Academic Programs (CAP)
6. Procedures to Request 7-Course Breadth for a UC Berkeley Course
7. CAP Meeting Schedule
8. Executive Committee and CAP Resources

Introduction

The L&S Executive Committee is charged with “the general oversight of the welfare and instruction of the students of the College” and serves as the Committee on Educational Policy for the College. In the fulfillment of that broad charge, the committee has a number of areas of oversight including:

• All Senate regulations pertaining to L&S, including registration, graduation requirements for the bachelor’s degree, criteria for honors, and rules governing probation and dismissal.
• The requirements for departmental, group and field major and minor programs, including prerequisites and limitations on programs, and alternative electives. All proposals for changes to majors and minors must be submitted to the committee for approval before publication and before they become effective.
• The academic program consisting of the general requirements of L&S (including Essential Skills and Seven-Course Breadth Distribution Requirement) and approval of the courses of instruction appropriate for fulfillment of these requirements.

All proposals for changes to majors and minors, and new majors and minors, should be submitted to the Executive Committee (EC) for review and approval. Requests for review of courses for Essential Skills and Seven-Course Breadth designation should be submitted to the subcommittee on Courses of Instruction and Academic Programs (CAP).

Please see below for EC and CAP meeting schedules and proposal deadlines as well as resources to help prepare you for proposal submission.

The analyst and contact for all inquiries regarding the EC and CAP is Khia Brunelle (lsec@berkeley.edu), Coordinator of Educational Policy.

Spring 2026 Election

[Notice of L&S Election] Executive Committee and Courses of Instruction and Academic Programs (March 2, 2026)

Read about the critical role of the committee and its far-reaching impact on undergraduate education and departmental vitality: Supporting Undergraduate Success: A Conversation with Scott Saul on the Impact of the L&S Executive Committee

2026-2027 Executive Committee

Chair

• David Nadler (Mathematics)

Members

• Déborah Blocker (French)
• Brandi Wilkins Catanese (African American Studies/Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies)
• Abby Dernburg (Molecular and Cell Biology)
• Eric Falci (English)
• Seth Finnegan (Integrative Biology) 
• Supreet Kaur (Economics) 
• Darya Kavitskaya (Linguistics/Slavic Languages and Literatures)
• Ramona Naddaff (Rhetoric)
• Leslie Salzinger (Gender and Women's Studies) 
• Ethan Shagan (History)
• Nikhil Srivastava (Mathematics)
• Jun Sunseri (Anthropology)
• Linda Wilbrecht (Psychology/Neuroscience)

Ex-Officio Member

• TBA

Procedures to Submit Proposals to the Executive Committee

Before submitting a proposal to the L&S Executive Committee (EC), review the following information.

Proposal Deadlines

Proposals must be completed and submitted via the Curriculum & Course Management System (CCMS) at least two weeks before the next committee meeting. Please review the L&S Executive Committee proposal submission deadlines

NOTE:

• The EC meets once per month in the fall and spring semesters. The EC does not meet in June, July, or August. 

• Each proposal requires an endorsement from the dean (or their appointed designee) that oversees the major/minor before the proposal can be reviewed by the EC.

• This process is included as part of the CCMS workflows for L&S proposals (slides 30-32).

• The Deans require at least one week to review and respond to a proposal. Keep this in mind when submitting a proposal before the proposal deadline. Last minute requests for a dean's endorsement could postpone the proposal submission to a later EC meeting. 

Curriculum & Course Management System (CCMS)

Effective July 15, 2025, all proposals to the EC must be submitted through the CCMS. Review these job aids for instructions on how to submit a proposal for a new major or minor in L&S as well as requests for modifying existing major and minor programs. 

Review the CCMS Workflows for an overview of the proposal submission process. L&S Executive Committee workflow: slides 30-32

Log into CCMS to submit a proposal. 

Effective Date for Program Changes

Once the Berkeley Catalog is published for the academic year, no changes can be made to a program while that year is in progress; therefore, any changes to a program that are approved by the EC will be made effective for the fall of the following academic year. Changes cannot be made effective for a spring term. For example, if a proposal is submitted to the EC during fall 2025 for curriculum changes to a major/minor, those changes will be made effective for students starting fall 2026.

Depending on the proposed change, consider whether the changes will be made effective for new and continuing students or for only students who declare the major/minor in the effective term and beyond. 

Reading and Composition (R&C) Course Approval Process

Courses proposed to fulfill either half of the two-semester R&C requirement must be submitted to the Letters and Sciences (L&S) Executive Committee for approval before they can be considered by the Committee on Courses of Instruction.

To help in the design of new R&C courses, see Reading and Composition Curricular Goals and Guidelines and sample syllabi of previously approved Reading and Composition courses.

Syllabi and course descriptions should be submitted to the Letters and Science Executive Committee via CCMC. To expedite matters, COCI paperwork can be submitted at the same time, with a note to Senate staff that the accompanying syllabus has been submitted to L&S for approval.

If you have questions about creating a course for the Reading and Composition requirement, contact Coordinator of Educational Policy, Khia Brunelle (kbrunelle@berkeley.edu), who will help coordinate the L&S and COCI course approval processes.

• 1989 Reading and Composition Committee Report

Resources

• Guidelines for Submitting Proposals to the L&S Executive Committee

• Sample Proposal to the L&S Executive Committee

• College of Letters and Science Bylaws and Regulations 

• Berkeley Division Regulations (L&S)

• Berkeley Compendium: Policies and Procedures for the Creation, Revision, Discontinuation, and Disestablishment of Academic Programs and Units

Additional resources, if applicable:

• Requesting Exceptions to Unit Requirements for Major Programs (BDR 809.A)

• Guidelines for Proposals for New Minor Programs

• Advanced Notice of Pre-requisite Changes to CA Community Colleges

Calendar of Meetings

The Executive Committee (EC) meet during the fall and spring semesters (The committee does not meet in May, June, July and August.). Completed proposals must be submitted via CCMS no later than two weeks before the meeting date. Please note that committee meetings are limited to members and invited guests.

2026-27 EC Meeting Schedule

• John Alba Cutler (English)
• Keith Feldman (Ethnic Studies) 
• Kevis Goodman (English) 
• Myra Melford (Music)
• Estelle Tarica (Spanish and Portuguese)

2026-27 CAP Meeting Schedule

CAP meetings are held monthly during the fall and spring semesters to review requests. The committee does not meet in June, July and August.

College of Letters and Science Bylaws and Regulations 

Guidelines for Submitting Proposals to the L&S Executive Committee

Requesting Exceptions to Unit Requirements for Major Programs (BDR 809.A)

Guidelines for Proposals for New Minor Programs

Sample Proposal to the L&S Executive Committee

Guidelines for Course Review for Seven-Course Breadth

Sample Annotated Syllabus for Seven-Course Breadth Requests

Advanced Notice of Pre-requisite Changes to CA Community Colleges