The article explores the problem of HEIs’ responsibility towards graduates, employers, society and region. Characteristic aspects of a university social responsibility in meeting the needs of oil and gas industry in Siberian region have been analysed. The authors discuss the case study of Tuymen State Oil and Gas University that demonstrates cooperation between the university and its regional partners in training graduates for the industry.

Nowadays it is clear that a new mechanism for collaboration between HEIs and labour market is needed. It seems relevant to focus efforts on improving coordination between various social agents involved in training and employing young graduates. Therefore a sociological research on graduate employment on regional labour market is important. The research helps to identify the role of state institutions and HEIs in graduate employment.

The article is prepared in the framework of monitoring employers’ opinion on quality of education of graduates, which provide by Tuymen State Oil and Gas University annually. The authors detailed describe the results of monitoring employers’ opinion conducted in 2011. 128 respondents took part in the expert survey, experts were the heads of industrial, oil and gas, transport, mechanical engineering companies, energy providers.

The authors examine the main trends and the key priorities in cooperation between the university and regional partners, analyze employers’ opinion on quality of graduates.

In the conclusion the authors provide recommendations on enhancing the social responsibility of HEIs. The results on survey show the necessity to create and realize the conception of social responsibility for Universities.