The purpose of the article is to justify the increasing role of a university department in achieving the major objective of higher education, namely to train highly qualified specialists for the national economy. The article contains some of the results of monitoring (questionnaire) of 350 heads of departments of Russian universities, as well as 30 experts--experienced representatives of the university management. The factors that complicate the job of university departments and their heads have been identified; new requirements for professional competence of heads of departments have been established; the results of the analysis of changes in the structure, content and priorities of the activities of heads of departments have been stated. Based on the results of a survey of heads of departments and highly qualified experts, measures to improve management efficiency at a university department as a key element of a Russian University have been proposed.