For many active‑duty service members, the biggest barrier to pursuing higher education isn’t motivation, it’s logistics.
Long shifts and unpredictable schedules can make it difficult to attend in-person classes or connect with advisors. That’s why the UNLV @ Nellis AFB Office was created.
Located inside the Nellis Education Center on base, the office serves as a direct extension of UNLV’s Military & Veteran Services Center, offering academic advising, admissions support, and degree exploration services.
“We act as that first line of support,” says Chardon Cooks, who has been the academic affairs coordinator for the office for the past eight years.
Cooks meets with anyone who has access to the base, including active‑duty personnel, veterans, reservists, spouses, and dependents. She helps prospective students complete applications, order transcripts, understand funding, and map out academic plans from admission through graduation. “You tell me the destination and I’ll create the map,” she says.
Some days she speaks with a dozen airmen all interested in nursing. Other days might bring in veterans returning to school after more than a decade away. She helps support graduate students, parents seeking guidance for their children, and military spouses.
“I’m a military spouse, and I remember the base having a lot of resources for my active‑duty husband, but I felt like there weren’t a lot of things for me,” she says. “I like creating that safe space, letting them know, ‘This center is for you, too.’ And I always tell the spouses: ‘Educate yourself. No matter where you go, you can take that education with you.’”
One of the first questions she asks any potential student is whether they want to continue in the field they’ve been working in during their military service. “After doing it for six or eight years, maybe you don’t want to do that anymore,” she says.
Together, they review military credits, prior coursework, and career interests to determine the best academic path.
“Some military jobs translate well and others don’t. We just look at what they have and the experience they bring to the table to see how that fits into the academic side,” she says.
Cooks’ office sits just steps away from the military education office that processes tuition assistance, allowing her to troubleshoot funding issues in real time. “If there is an issue, we’ll take them through all the hoops,” she explains.
One young airman was discouraged by a low GPA and scattered credits from multiple schools. Together, she and Cooks built a plan: Start at CSN, raise her GPA, then transfer to UNLV. She followed every step.
“Eventually she applied to UNLV and got in and is a business student,” Cooks says. “I was reviewing her grades one semester, and I was so proud to realize she’d done it.”
Cooks emailed a note of encouragement. Several months later, after returning from a deployment, the student stopped by to report the good news: She is now set to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
“It may seem like a long road, but I have never looked more forward to a graduation,” Cooks says.
For active-duty students, the sense of belonging begins before they ever step onto UNLV’s main campus. It starts at Nellis, in a small office where someone understands their challenges and believes they can succeed.
“One of my favorite things is seeing the lightbulb moment,” Cooks says. “They walked into my office thinking they couldn’t get into UNLV because of this or that. But you can have that degree. And I love seeing that moment of realization."
