Professor Henry Lu is sitting at his desk on the fourth floor of Hills North when the phone rings. Holly, from the campus visitor's center, tells him that a prospective student in Landscape Architecture and his family are on campus for a tour. Henry invites them to his office for a talk. The student is unsure about the difference between landscaping and landscape architecture. The parents want to know the potential for someone going into the field. "It is a unique profession," says Henry. "I have to show them what landscape architects do, what the important environmental issues are."

Henry teaches almost everyday, so he invites the family to observe his studio class. "The curriculum is studio based. We are primarily problem solvers and problems are solved in the studio setting," says Henry. The family joins the graphics class, which all new students take. Henry walks around the room as the students work on their assignments. He gets to know each student on a personal basis. "They don't get lost. I am literally taking their hands along the way," he says. He asks a student how she is doing. She says she's fine, but just as Henry is walking away, she adds, "Hey Henry, I am thinking about taking this course next semester, what do you think?" Henry says this very informal advising is effective because they don't have to make a time to meet.

The graphics class is the toughest course for first-year students and often determines whether the students stay with the major. Henry explains to the family, "Students will come in and be shocked at the assignments. I usually expose them to the profession and the time commitment. After that class, they decide whether they stay or not."

"Most of them coming here are scared, no matter how good they are," he continues. "I show them a senior's work, and they say, 'Wow, I can't do this, no matter how good I am.' But I tell them, the profession requires people have a little bit of talent, 3% in terms of artistic inclinations. The other 97% is hard work. We will help you along the way. By the time you reach the senior year, if you work hard and have that 3% talent, you will succeed."

The student and his family leave with a much clearer idea of what's involved with choosing the major. "That initial contact with them is very important," says Henry. "The warmth they feel, the help they get, will sometimes determine where they go." Sophomore Patrick Henry is a perfect example. Patrick explains, "When Henry and I met, I had already been accepted into another landscape design program in the area. Henry convinced me that UMass Amherst's program would fulfill my needs better than the other program I was considering. He was correct."

Back at his office, Henry sits down at his desk. A colleague stops by to discuss a project in Springfield. Soon, a second-year student sticks his head a few inches inside the office's open door, asking, "Can I stop in sometime and talk to you about my schedule?" Henry replies, "You can even wait five minutes right now." His perpetually open office door is a magnet for students, who do not hesitate to seek him out. "When I was a student, I had to walk past three secretaries to see my advisor, and I didn't want to walk in there," says Henry. "I have an open door, I am here all the time - they can't miss me," he adds. "That is the everyday advising that solves most problems."

Later that afternoon the phone rings again and this time it's a graduate from several years ago who left the state for a job. He just came back to the area and is seeking career advice. "Our profession is a small, practical field," says Henry. "I make phone calls, and when I hear things, I'll refer them. That happens often."

Anna (Ryan) Fast ('04), a landscape architect at CR3, in Simsbury, Connecticut, relied on Henry for that kind of post-grad help. "He has a great perspective on what to expect from a company. I could ask him specific questions about a job opportunity, such as whether the salary range was appropriate, whether their expectations for an employee were correct, or whether this was a position in which I would be able to go somewhere," she says.

Henry leaves the office to teach his afternoon studio, his final studio class of the week. At the end, he says to his students, "Let's challenge another studio to play basketball." They head out to the basketball court right outside the building; they often do this on Friday afternoons when the weather is nice. "When we play, we're buddies," says Henry. "I try to break down the professor/student barrier." Students say to him that UMass is very big; sometimes you can't find somebody. "I tell them the department is a small family in the big university, and I am here to help them."

For Henry, advising is not a separate activity, but an integral part of everything he does. "I have a hard time separating it," says Henry, who advises on field trips and even when he bumps into students when he walks into town. "You don't see people lining up here because they're all taken care of in some way. They feel like they're open to you and you make a difference. You resolve the problems quickly, and they are assured. That's very satisfying to me."