New approaches to assess qualities and skills of the head of the department at the contemporary university (the empirical research results)

The paper discusses modern approaches to management principles in Russian higher education. The author examines the effective control and management of the faculty of the university, develops the quality model for the head of the department who meets the contemporary requirements of higher education staff and has the necessary skills. The research allows one to assess the competence of the head of the department, analyze his personal and professional skills aimed at achieving efficiency and effectiveness of the university strategy to provide educational services to the public. The paper presents the main results of the empirical research conducted among students and academic staff of Kuban university intended to improve management practices making a university more competitive on the educational market. In the opinion of the survey respondents, the quality model for the head of the university’s department includes three groups of qualities: personal, communicative and managerial, professional ones.