The fifth mission and the risk of programmatasis

Purpose This paper examines how the expansion of university missions affects functional coherence. Drawing on systems theory, we introduce programmatasis, a condition in which proliferating, weakly aligned missions generate conflicting programs that undermine their function as scientific and educational institutions. We identify a fifth mission in security, defense, and societal resilience as a qualitative shift in university repurposing. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a qualitative case study of a university of applied sciences undergoing strategic reorientation toward security and resilience. Thirteen semi-structured interviews with institutional leaders, researchers, and policy actors were analyzed using grounded theory through iterative coding and interpreted through a systems-theoretical framework focusing on mission semantics, structural couplings, and programmatic decision-making. Findings The study reveals a shift from a fourth mission centered on societal engagement toward a fifth mission characterized by securitization, resilience, and operational preparedness. Teaching, research, and infrastructure increasingly align with state and military actors, generating tensions between incompatible missions. Research limitations/implications The single, context-specific case limits generalizability. Programmatasis requires validation through comparative research across universities and national systems. Practical implications Governance should enable prioritization, reflexivity, and mechanisms to suspend or exit activities when programmatic capacity is exceeded, preventing mission proliferation from undermining core teaching and research. Social implications Security-oriented missions may blur boundaries between scientific, political, and military domains, raising questions about academic freedom, knowledge legitimacy, and the societal role of higher education. Originality/value The paper introduces programmatasis to capture the cumulative effects of mission proliferation, advancing a systems-theoretical understanding of university transformation.