Westwood College – Atlanta Northlake

I worked here for over two years. I was an Adjunct Instructor from July 2008 to October 2009, and then hired as Full-​Time Instructor from October 2009 until October 2010, when I relocated to Indianapolis, IN.
As an employer, they were okay. It was my first experience working at a proprietary institution. I was fortunate to have a helpful supervisor, and also know somebody working there.
Proprietary colleges (i.e the «for-​profit» schools) move very quickly. It is a year-​round schedule (no fall break, no spring break, no summer break) and instructional faculty do not accrue vacation. You get «a few» days between each term (5 10-​week terms a year at Westwood) and you are expected to «take your vacation» then. However, management will often schedule in-​service or training on those break days.
This type of institution, because of its aggressive pace, will burn you out. After two years of working there, I was stressed, frustrated, and showing all the characteristics one displays when one has been overworked, and has not had any sort of time off. However, quality co-​workers and supervisors can mitigate this, somewhat. You get this weird sense of camaraderie because you are all in the madness, together. Nevertheless, no one can stand this type of burn rate for long.
I was fortunate; I had to move from Atlanta for family reasons at about the same time as my personal burn-​out was peaking, and the colleagues I respected and admired were leaving. So, it worked out for me.
I have since worked for other for-​profit institutions and I would say that Westwood Northlake is as well-​run as any of them, and perhaps even excels at communicating expectations and requirements to faculty.
However, it is a grueling pace, and the pay is on the low end compared to other for-​profit schools in the area, but you can live on it if you can get multiple classes as an Adjunct.
So, if you are looking to Adjunct instruct at a for-​profit school, you can do worse than Westwood Northlake, but you might want to also shop around at other schools (and I’m talking on-​ground teaching, on-​line is a whole different beast).
Overall, I had no complaints, but I left at the perfect time, for me.