THE University of the Sunshine Coast has marked the start of a new era, with an internal restructuring and a working agreement with the provincial government of the Indonesian island of Lombok.

The USC last week appointed two executive deans to lead its redesigned academic structure from January 2012.

Professor John Bartlett from the University of Western Sydney will become the executive dean of the Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering while USC's Professor Joanne Scott will become the executive dean of the new Faculty of Arts and Business.

The internal academic structure will change from three faculties to two from January 1.

The existing Faculty of Science, Health and Education will be extended in name only to include the word engineering and will comprise three schools: health and sport sciences; nursing and midwifery; and science, education and engineering.

The Faculties of Arts and Business will be combined and will have three schools: business; communication; and social sciences. The university's Sustainability Research Centre will be part of this combined faculty.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Greg Hill said the restructure was about positioning the university for a greater national profile and for future growth.

Its degree offerings will not be affected by the changes.

The university also signed an agreement with Lombok officials in a bid to develop a program of education and research.

USC's Lombok research initiative will collaborate with Lombok's University of Mataram (UNRAM) on research areas including coastal management, capacity building in sustainable tourism and language education.

USC's lecturer in tourism Dr Gayle Mayes said the partnership also allowed for student study exchanges and experimental learning programs.

"We will learn so much from each other by deliberately creating collaborative projects that require English and Indonesian language and research skills," she said.