This case study investigated the roles of organizational culture and the individual in collaborative processes at a large, public university. Results indicate that individuals who are motivated by a belief in shared mission use their awareness of the collaborative process to advocate for themselves and others, leading to stronger and more cognitively complex collaborations across organizational cultural differences. These findings provide insight into the individual's role in the collaborative process and are the foundation for recommendations for ways to bridge the loosely-coupled and diverse components of higher education.