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[tolerantly]

I just got invited to interview for an adjunct spot at a nearby Kaplan U. campus -- for comp, I'm assuming; they weren't clear.  Does anyone here have experience with bricks-and-mortar Kaplan?  How'd they treat you, what kind of teaching latitude did you have, who were the students, what was the pay, how many courses did you usually get?

I've worked as a textbook writer for Kaplan K12 before, btw, and they treated me pretty nicely.  Decent pay, the few misunderstandings resolved in my favor, good communication, etc.

[pyromania]

bricks-and-mortar Kaplan?  Are you being serious? 

[tolerantly]

I regret to say that I am.  It's the apotheosis of vertical integration.  If the kids don't learn from the fed-funded Kaplan K12 curricula, and bomb their SATs despite the $Xk test-prep courses, back they go into the arms of Mama Kaplan.  $12K/yr tuition, as far as I can make out.

They've bought up small chains like Hamilton College.  The thing that makes you cry is that the kids could just as well go to community college for a fraction of the money; it's the same instructors. 

[jonesey]

I just got invited to interview for an adjunct spot at a nearby Kaplan U. campus -- for comp, I'm assuming; they weren't clear.  Does anyone here have experience with bricks-and-mortar Kaplan?  How'd they treat you, what kind of teaching latitude did you have, who were the students, what was the pay, how many courses did you usually get?

I'm not at Kaplan, but I have for-profit experience.

You'll have no say in textbook choice or syllabus. The school will have a standard syllabus that you might be able to "tweak" a bit, but 90% of it will come down from the Dean of C&I (or whatever they call him/her at Kaplan). 

Expect your students to be at the low end of English skills (although some may surprise you).  I've taught Comp I at a for-profit and the CC level and the CC students were light years ahead of most of my FP students.  The enrollment standards for a FP school are even lower than an open-enrollment CC (the most common reason my students gave me for attending the FP and 5x the cost of the CC was that the CC was "too hard" and teachers didn't give them "enough attention").

It isn't a terrible gig, but it's different than a traditional public school.  Keep in mind that retention is key, so you may end up telephoning/emailing your students when they miss class, etc.