Writing studies scholarship has focused on institutional critique and more recently institutional ethnography as methodologies for approaching institutional design and change work through writing. While the field expresses interest in the relationship between writing and institutions, we lack a theory of institutional rhetoric, and most workplace studies approach the institution-the workplace itself-as a backdrop for the work being done and not central to the study design and findings. This dissertation responds to these disciplinary conversations by offering a case study on a coalitional team called SEEN (Supporting Equity in Essential Needs), a group of students, staff, and faculty working on a large institutional change project to make campus resources more accessible for students. Through qualitative interviews, writing artifacts, and situational analysis, this study demonstrates how to locate opportunities for institutional change based on participants' institutional experiences and offers a framework to manage and facilitate change in rhetorical, responsive, and relational ways.The two research questions that guided this study were: (1) How do individuals and groups build relationships to make change? (2) What's the role of collaborative writing in participating, managing, and facilitating teams and institutional change? My data evidenced and this dissertation shows that coalitional teams composed of diversely situated participants (e.g., students, staff, and faculty) were able to leverage their relational networks to navigate laterally across hierarchically structured institutions to make change. By focusing on collaborative writing, my findings demonstrated how a diverse team that delayed consensus and integrated every member's expertise was able to make change across various institutional levels (e.g., department, college, and university). This dissertation forwards relational institutional change, a people-centered approach to design, enact, and manage more equitable and responsive departments, programs, and ideally, institutions.
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