The creation of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs was approved by the University of the Philippines Board of Regents in its meeting held on February 26, 1977. The following Units/Offices were directly under the supervision of the OVCAA:

The OVCAA was renamed Office of the Vice Chancellor for Instruction (OVCI) when the reorganization of UPLB administration was approved by the BOR in its meeting held on October 23, 1997. This resulted also in the abolition of the Office of the Director of Instruction and the transfer of its functions to the OVCI. The Offices of the Directors of Research and Extension were subsequently transferred to the newly created Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension.

On 12 April 2013, the BOR approved the change of name of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Instruction (OVCI) to its original name as the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA). The change of name did not entail any changes in the functions and responsibilities of the unit. This is in recognition of OVCAA as a more appropriate name reflective of the functions of OVCI and to be consistent with the UP system-wide nomenclature for similar offices in other constituent universities.