Conditions of effectiveness of university basic departments

The competitiveness of higher education institutions and the labor market demand for graduates depend on the degree of practical orientation of education. The increase of the practice-oriented part of the education process will eliminate the existing gap between the system of preparation of students at higher institution and the effectiveness of their future professional activity. Critical role in this work is given to the basic departments created at the workplace. Analyzing the experience of the South Ural State University (SUSU, Chelyabinsk), the paper describes the requirements that enable to maximize the efficiency of the basic departments. It also defines the requirements for the companies where it is advisable to organize basic departments. Particular attention is given to the nature of interaction between enterprises and universities that should be based on mutual interests. As enterprises need specialists with a particular set of competences, it is critical to adapt the educational programs to the needs of enterprises. Possible ways to achieve this condition are given in the paper. It was determined that an obligatory element of the educational process of the basic departments is a continuous system of practices, allowing students to change their quasi-professional activities, perform different types of work. It is another essential condition for the formation of the desired set of skills. Identified requirements can not only improve the efficiency of the basic departments, but can also give the opportunity to create the educational, scientific, industrial and socio-cultural areas of continuous innovation businesses. The experience of South Ural State University shows that this fact significantly increases the interest of enterprises to the expansion of the university basic departments.