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The Charles G. Overberger series (1950-1984) dates primarily from 1972 to 1981. When Overberger first took office, the file arrangement bore some similarity to that of his predecessor, however about 1978 the structure of the files was radically altered.

Prior to 1978 the Overberger series consisted of three subseries, General File, Report Files, and the Consortium File. The General File is made up of three subdivisions, Reference (1958-1972), Research Support/Interests (1961-1972), and Budget (1973/74 to 1976/77). The first two subdivisions continue the files of the same name established by Norman. The Reference File is particularly informative in the matter of Awards, Equipment (usually major pieces of research equipment), Indirect Costs, Patents, and Willow Run Laboratories. The Research Support/Interest Files again contains a large amount of information about funding received through various federal agencies. The Budget file is an addition grafted onto the General Files by Overberger.

Also unique to the Overberger series is the Report File. Arranged alphabetically and primarily dating from 1972 to 1978 (span dates 1950-1982), the series contains information about the various university units that report to the vice-president for research, as well as a small amount of information about research in General at the university. Information about many of the units listed in the Reports File are also found in the General File. Major activities and units found in the Reports File include the Dental Research Institute, the Division of Research Development and Administration, the Institute of Environmental Quality, the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, and Radiation Policy Committee, and various projects involving computers and computerization and Great Lakes research.

The Overberger series contains a Consortiums Files (1972-1977) similar in purpose and arrangement to the same file in the Norman series. Within the Overberger Series Consortiums File there is some material created by Norman. Norman continued to serve as the university representative to two consortiums well after his retirement as vice-president. In addition to continuing files on the Argonne University Associates, the Institute for Defense Analysis and the University Research Association, the file contains a quantity of information on the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

Around 1978 the Overberger filing system was radically altered. The vice-president's office abandoned the multiple file system in favor of a single alphabetically arranged Topical File, generally divided on an annual basis. The Topical files generally focused on a single year, but included material form earlier years, and later material was sometimes added to the file. Four such Topical files have been received from Overberger and his successors; 1973-83 (primarily 1978-79); 1975-83 (primarily 1979-80); 1976-84 (primarily 1980-81); 1966-1985 (primarily 1982-1984, Overberger/Sussman).