Furstenberg said he intends to leave at a time when the admissions and financial aid offices appear to be successful and stable.
"We have really good people here, and the admissions and financial aid situations are strong. It's a good time for me to go," he said.
Furstenberg, who came to Dartmouth in 1990 after 13 years of managing admissions at Wesleyan, said he made the decision to retire at the end of the 2005-2006 academic year.
"It was a very difficult decision -- difficult because I enjoy what I do and work with great people," Furstenberg told The Dartmouth in an interview. "I think I just decided it was time to do something else. I still have a fair amount of energy left and it just seemed like it was a good time to do it."
Furstenberg and College President James Wright agreed last spring to announce his retirement plans at the beginning of the Fall term, giving ample time for a successor to be named.
"This is a very visible position that is centrally involved in the life of the College," Furstenberg said. "There has to be some lead time when these decisions are made."
In the wake of the departure of former Dean of the College James Larimore last June and a few other top administrators this past year, Furstenberg's upcoming retirement raises questions over a potential leadership void at the College come July.
Furstenberg, however, does not believe such a vacuity will occur upon his departure.
"There is a search underway already for Dean Larimore's replacement and I think that will move forward quickly and with careful consideration," Furstenberg said. "I'm sure Dartmouth will attract a strong pool of candidates for both positions ... I would think that by the end of this academic year at the latest, successors would be identified."
He added that he has confidence in the leadership demonstrated by current Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson.
Furstenberg's announcement comes just weeks after Harvard and Princeton University announced their landmark decisions to abandon their early admission programs.
While Furstenberg acknowledges that minority and low-income student applications are statistically lower in the early pool, he maintains that early admissions programs are appropriate and have worked well for Dartmouth.
He predicts that the upcoming year will be a year of change in admissions as many colleges, including Dartmouth, examine their early admission programs.
"I feel that this issue will certainly be resolved by the end of my time at Dartmouth," Furstenberg said.
He also noted that the College he is leaving is different from the one he encountered when he first arrived.
"During the time I've been here admissions has certainly changed," he said, citing the increased competition of the process, greater volume of students considering Dartmouth, and higher visibility of admissions in the media and among businesses.
Furstenberg contributed to a number of major changes in Dartmouth admissions, among them a significantly larger applicant pool, which jumped from 7,930 to 13,938. Minority representation has also substantially grown -- from 18 to 31 percent -- since Furstenberg assumed his post.
The last 17 years have also seen a rise in international students at Dartmouth and the achievement of gender parity at the College.
Financial aid assistance also increased in recent years, growing from 36 percent of the student body receiving $23 million to 46 percent receiving $44 million.
The representation of public and private high schools has also shifted with 66 percent of students coming from public high schools, up 10 percent from when he took the reins at Dartmouth.
Despite his many achievements at Dartmouth, Furstenberg's career did not go without controversy -- nearly two years ago, a private letter was uncovered that revealed his disparaging comments about the varsity football program at Dartmouth and praised Swarthmore's decision to cut its own football program. Furstenberg, however, maintained that the public incident was not a defining moment of his career, but noted that he regrets the content of the letter.
A resident of Lyme, N.H., he plans to stay in the area after retiring.
"I'm looking forward to being a part of the larger Upper Valley community as well as continuing to be a part of the Dartmouth community," he said. "It's been my privilege and pleasure to work here and I know I'm going to miss it."
