The Russian and East European Institute collection is organized into three series: Funding, Projects and programs, and Administrative files.

The Funding series is further organized into five subseries: Title VI, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Budget and Miscellaneous funding. The Title VI subseries contains grant applications for federal funding based on the institute's Title VI status from 1964-1997. The majority of the grants funded the fellowships provided by the Institute for research, but a few were geared toward specific projects including summer language workshops and library collection development. The Ford Foundation subseries contains grant applications proposed to the Ford Foundation from 1961-1995, as well as correspondence regarding specific projects completed with funding from the Ford Foundation. The next subseries, the Mellon Foundation, contains grant applications proposed to Mellon from 1974-1995, as well as correspondence regarding specific projects completed with funding from the Foundation. The Budget subseries consists of the budget breakdowns and proposals from 1959-1996 for REEI, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Slavic Language and Area Center, with greater emphasis on the Institute's budget. The final subseries, Miscellaneous funding, contains grants and other aid infrequently provided to the institute for specific projects such as a graduate training program on civil society (Proposal to National Science Foundation) and the Soviet TV project that brought Russian broadcasting to campus (William and Mary Greve Foundation grant). Information on the oral history project with Babeş-Bolyai University in Romania can be found in the following folders: ACLS proposal, Aspera Foundation and US Information Agency. This subseries spans the period from 1973-2001.

The Programs and projects series is organized into three subseries: Projects, Programs and Outreach. The Projects subseries consists of records relating to initiatives begun by REEI and its departments from 1975-2002. Research papers for the Dan Armstrong essay competition are the major focus of this subseries, but other files are focused on faculty research projects. The next subseries, Programs, documents the symposiums, conferences, seminars and lectures hosted by the Russian and East European Institute or co-hosted by member departments from 1959-2009. Most of the folders are named based on the title of the event; however, there are a few folders labeled with personal names to designate material for a speaker such as Condoleeza Rice or Gennadi Zyuganov. Audio materials recorded from lectures and events occupy 2.5 cubic feet of this series. Most of the recordings are labeled with the name and date of the event. The final subseries, Outreach, consists of files on projects, events and resources related to REEI's initiatives outside of the Indiana University campus ranging in date from 1976-1993. Some events were geared towards students at local middle and high schools, and other events (notably the lecture series) took place on campus but were open to the public.

The Administrative files series is organized into seven subseries: Resources, Fellowships, Faculty, Courses, REEI Administration, Department Files, and Correspondence. The Resources subseries includes bibliographies and guides to resources relating to Eastern European and Soviet studies, as well as files for non-IU area studies centers and agencies. The files in this subseries span the period from 1967-1995. The Fellowships subseries of the Administrative Files series contains files of individual fellowship recipients for the Summer Research Fellows Program as well as general files by year. The files have been organized alphabetically by recipient's first name and range in date from 1982-1992. The next subseries, Faculty, groups files with information pertaining to specific faculty and staff members within the Russian and East European Institute and its departments, arranged alphabetically by name and range in date from 1947-2007. These files contain faculty summary reports, resumes, publications and other information relevant to the work completed by that employee. Access to these files is restricted. The Courses subseries contains some information on specific courses taught within the REEI, ranging in date from 1964-1995. These files include course proposals, administrative correspondence and student evaluations. The REEI Administration subseries is focused on the structure, curriculum and other administrative information related only to the institute from 1957-2009. Of particular note are the files relating to the library, as they provide a good representation of the development of the Slavic Collection at the Indiana University Libraries since the founding of the Russian and East European Institute. The Committee files subseries contains minutes and correspondence from 1963-2008 regarding various committees within the REEI and IU, or among an alliance of directors nationwide. The files are organized alphabetically based on the name of the committee. The next subseries, Reports, contains various reviews and reports on the Russian and East European Institute and a few of its departments spanning the period from 1956-1993. The Department files subseries consists of files from departments, centers, offices or councils at Indiana University that are part of the Russian and East European Institute. The contents of the files include publications, correspondence and documents that provide information on the function of the department. Items in this series range from 1971-1995. The final subseries, Correspondence, is a general collection of communication records from 1972-1995, kept as arranged by the REEI. There are some files with correspondence by active faculty members, but the majority of the files are general administrative correspondence.

Restricted files are listed where they fall in the intellectual arrangement of the collection but are physically located in the last box.