CHICAGO, Jan. 13,--The National Collegiate Athletic Association cleared the way today for college athletes to participate in most of the indoor track season this year and issued an invitation to the AAU to participate in cooperative sanctioning.

The NCAA, in its annual convention, adopted a bylaw which sets an effective date of March 1 or prohibitions against collegiate competition in indoor meets sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union.

Moments later the group adopted a resolution, proposed by Ross Smith of M.I.T., asking that:

"The NCAA by direct communication invite the AAU to participate in the negotiations to form a plan for cooperative certification and sanctioning of indoor meets at the domestic level."

The resolution carried, 99-33.

The key bylaw actually calls for a halt to collegiate participation in indoor meets which do not have NCAA membership on their administrative committees and which do not have NCAA certification.

But an amendment to that proposal was passed setting an effective date of March 1. Further, it was declared that with the passage of the amendment the policy opposing such participation would be wiped out.

The Ivy League schools had spoken out against such a policy as early as last December.