Sub-series consists of the Associate Vice-President, Academic's correspondence with the Vice-President, Research / Information Systems (renamed VP Research in 1990), and with departments which belonged to the VP Research reporting portfolio. Activities and topics documented include development of the university's computing polices and administrative computing systems; the AVP Academic's interactions with the University Archives and the Centre for Systems Science; and the activities and deliberations of a number of university committees, including the Cognitive Science Program Steering Committee, the Computing Advisory Committee, the Administrative Information Systems Steering Committee, the Committee on Instructional Computing, and the Archives and Records Management Committee. Records include correspondence, reports, meeting agenda and minutes, presentations, and policies.

Sub-sub-series consists of correspondence of the Vice-President, Academic with, related to, or copied from the Vice-President Research. Topics include research policy development, research grants and professorships, development of the student information system (SIMON), supervision of research centres and institutes, and the deliberations and activities of a number of university committees including the SFU / Canada Foundation for Innovation Steering Committee, the University Publications Committee, the President's Research Grant Committee, and the University Radiology Safety Committee. Records include correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, communiqués and press releases, annual reports of research centres, and research grant proposals, summaries, and awards lists.