Creating a New Course in MCB

Since scheduling begins about a year in advance, it's important to start the process as early as possible. In practice, the deadlines are November 1 for courses to be taught the following fall semester and April 1 for courses to be taught the following spring semester.

  1. First, please review current course offerings to be certain another similar course is not in the catalog. Go to: https://ib.berkeley.edu/academics/courses

  2. Please create a syllabus using the information below as a guideline.
    Syllabus - For every new course, or for any request to substantially change an existing course, a syllabus is required. The Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) expects certain components to be included in each syllabus. An example of a fully developed syllabus and other helpful reference materials can be found here: https://academic-senate.berkeley.edu/course-toolbox/9.2
    • The requirements for the course (what students will be expected to do to pass the class), and the relative weight of each requirement toward the final grade (usually expressed as percentages)
    • Requirements for undergraduate courses must include a comprehensive final examination, unless an alternative method of final assessment has been indicated on the form and explained in the syllabus.
    • A chronological schedule of topics, usually in a week-by-week format (14 weeks)
    • A list of required readings. It is highly unusual for courses to be approved that don’t have required readings listed with specifics on citations included.
  3. In addition, please provide the Course Proposal Required Information along with the syllabus to bds_scheduler@berkeley.edu. The Curriculum Planning team will submit the proposal to the Undergraduate or Graduate Affairs Committee, who will provide feedback on the proposal. After feedback and an approval by the Committee and CCDH, the proposal will be submitted to COCI for final approval.